Toy submarine with ballast control therefor



arch 29, 1966 A. SCHWARTZ TOY SUBMARINE WITH BALLAST CONTROL THEREFOR m. .m .N 222 QE?. o. m IMNII INVENTOR Arthur Schwartz ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,242,613 TOY SUBMARINE WITH BALLAST CONTROL THEREFOR Arthur Schwartz, 660 Americana Drive, Annapolis, Md. Filed Aug. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 480,362 6 Claims. (Cl. 46-244) This invention relates to underwater toys, and more particularly to battery operated toy submarines.

Battery operated toy submarines have in the past been primarily of the variety that stay submerged once their ballast tanks have been iilled. Those that rise after a period of time must rely on complicated iloats and valves or on a chemical solution.

lt is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an underwater toy that will be able to completely submerge and surface periodically.

It is another object to provide a toy submarine which is battery operated and will submerge and surface periodically.

It is a further object to provide a toy submarine with a ballast tank and a reversible pump connected to the ballast tank.

It is still another object to provide a pump driven by a motor, the polarity of the pump motor being reversed periodically.

It is another object to provide a polarity reversing mechanism, whereby the polarity of a device will be reversed after a given number of revolutions of a controlling motor.

Another object is to provide a motor operated pump, the polarity of the pump motor being controlled by another motor.

One form of the invention includes a submarine hull, a ballast tank in the hull, and a motor to propel the submarine. Connected to the interior of the ballast tank is a pump which communicates with the outside of the hull. The pump is motor driven, the polarity of the pump motor being regulated by the propelling motor.

Other objects and advantages will become obvious upon reference to the following description of one embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section view of the submarine;

FIGURE 2 is a top section view of a submarine embodying the invention;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the switching means taken along lines 3 3 in FIGURE 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, a submarine 1 has a hull 3. Inside the hull 3 is a ballast tank 5 the upper portion of which may include a flexible wal-l or membrane 7 which is attached to the bottom of the hull at 9.

At the lower portion of the h ull 3 is located a pump 11, the function of which will be further explained below. Connected to the pump is a drive shaft 13 which enters through the ballast tank membrane 7 through a seal 15. The shaft 13 may also be encased in an outer watertight member which in turn would be sealed to the membrane 7. The end of the drive shaft 13 not connected to pump 11 is connected to the rotor of motor 17.

The motor 17 is located in the conning tower 19 by means of braces or supports 21'. Extending above the conning tower is a simulatedperiscope 67.

Located near the bow of the submarine is a door or hatch 21. Located below hatch 21 is a compartment defined by walls 23 which support a plurality of batteries 25 and 26. The hatch 21 may be provided with seal 27 which will provide a water-tight arrangement around the compartment containing the batteries.

At the stern of the submarine is a drive motor 29, having a drive shaft 31 and a prop 33. The hull 3 may 3,242,613 Patented Mar. 29, 1966 include a seal 35 to provide a water-tight arrangement at the location where the shaft 31 comes through the hull. The other end of drive shaft 31 is connected to a gear 37. This, in turn, is connected to a second gear 39 revolving on a shaft 41. The second gear may in turn be connected to a third gear 43 to provide a step-down relationship. It is understood that any number of gears of appropriate size may be used to provide a slow moving commutator switch means 45. This switch 45 is connected to gear 43 by means lof shaft 44. It is wel-l known in the art that by using increasingly larger gears the final output will be a gear that will rotate at a small fraction of the speed of the original motor. The gears shown herein are merely schematic of such a relationship.

The commutator wheel 45 is provided with a pair of conducting sections 47 and 49 separated by an insulating member 51. This relationship is best seen in FIGURE 3. Located approximately from one another around the commutator wheel 45 are a plurality of brush contacts 53, 55, 57, 59. Brush contacts 53 and 57 are connected to the pump motor through conductors 53 and 57'; and brush contacts 55 and 59 are connecte-d to the negative and positive terminals of a source of electrical potential respectively through conductors 55 and 59'. In the instant case the power source is the batteries 25.

Extending from motor 29 to batteries 26 are conductors 61 and 63. In the circuit of conductor 63 is located a lever-actuated or push-button switch 65 to energize the motor 29.

At the stern of the submarine is a rudder 69 having a shaft 71 which is frictionally engaged into a fitting 73 in the hull 3. The boat may be set on a particular course by rotating the rudder 69.

OPERATION Upon closing switch 65 motor 29 will be connected to batteries 25, thus rotating the prop 33 to drive the submarine. At the same time shaft 31 connected to gear 37 will rotate, and through gears 39 and- 43 the switch commutator 45 will slowly turn. In the form seen in FIGURE 3 current will ow from the positive side of batteries 26 through line 59 to brush 59. Current will flow through conducting section 45 to the contact 57, and hence through conductor 57 to motor 17. The other side of motor 17 is connectedV to line 53', which in turn is connected to contact terminal 53. The current then continues to ow through section 47 to contact 55 and hence through line 55 to the other side of the battery.

As the contact commutator 45 rotates, the polarity of motor 17 will change. It will thus be seen that periodically the pump will pump water in and out of the ballast tank 5. As the water is pumped into the tank, the air will expand membrane 7 slightly. As the water is pumped out, the air will help force the water out and also the membrane 7 will be able to collapse slightly. Depending upon the strength of the pump, the air in the ballast tank will become compressed slightly.

It will be appreciated that the submarine, as it takes on water, will submerge. When the polarity on the pump motor is reversed, the water will be pumped out and the submarine will surface.

The sizes of the various gearsand commutator 45 are selected in accordance with the amount of Water necessary in a particular vessel to submerge same.

While the invention has lbeen described it will be understood that it is capable of further modications and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within knowledge or 3 customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as maybe applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A toy submarine comprising:

(a) a hull,

I(b) a ballast means in said hull,

(c) motor means for propelling said hull,

(d) a reversible pump means for lling and emptying said ballast, and

(e) means responsive to the completion of a predetermined number of revolutions of said motor means for reversing the direction of said pump means.

2. A toy submarine as defined in claim 1, wherein said reversing means includes gearing means `connected to said motor means, a polarity reversing switch means, a reversible motor connected to said pump means, said switch means connected to reversible motor.

3. A toy submarine asdeined in claim 1 wherein said motor means is powered by at least one lbattery.

4. A toy submarine comprising:

(a) a hull,

(b) a ballast tank,

(c) a first motor having a drive shaft,

(d) a pump connected to said ballast tank for filling and emptying the same,

(e) a reversible motor connected to said pump,

(f) Va propeller connected to said drive shaft,

(g) gearing means connected to said driveshaft,

-(h) polarity reversing switch means connected to said gearing means,

(i) said switch means being connected to said reversible motor, whereby as said first motor rotates the polarity of said reversible motor is periodically reversed so Y that Water will be pumped in and out of said ballast tank.

5. A toy submarine comprising:

(a) a hull,

d (b) (C) a ballast tank,

a first motor having a drive shaft,

(d) a rst gear mounted on said shaft,

(e) at least a second gear engaging said rst gear,

(f) a switch operatively connected to said second gear,

(g) said switch including a circular disc, said circular disc including two substantially semi-circular conducting mem-bers, said conducting members being separated by insulation, four contacts approximately 90 from each other engaging said disc,

(h) a second motor,

(i) two of said contacts operatively connected to said second motor,

(j) the yother two of said contacts connected to a source of electricity,

(k) said second motor being connected to a pump,

(l) said pump being in communication with said ballast tank.

`6. A submarine comprising:

(a) a hull,

(b) a ballast tank in said hull,

(c) a motor,

(d) a propeller connected to said motor,

(e) a pump connected to said ballast tank for filling and emptying the same,

(f) means responsive to the completion of a predetermined number of revolutions of said motor for reversing the direction of said pump.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,903,822 9/ 1959 Reid 46-244 2,914,887 12/1959 Fleischmann 46-243 2,972,972 2/1961 Allen 114-16 i2,990,645 7/ 1961 Polzin 46-243 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A TOY SUBMARINE COMPRISING: (A) A HULL, (B) A BALLAST MEANS IN SAID HULL, (C) MOTOR MEANS FOR PROPELLING SAID HULL, (D) A REVERSIBLE PUMP MEANS FOR FILLING AND EMPTYING SAID BALLAST, AND (E) MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE COMPLETION OF A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF REVOLUTIONS OF SAID MOTOR MEANS FOR REVERSING THE DIRECTION OF SAID PUMP MEANS. 